Today in Research: The Plight of the American Single Person; More

Today in research: the plight of single people, who smoked a cigarette in Spider-Man, early warning earthquake systems, and a math problem.

Throwback research of the day: teens still very much affected by cigarette smoking in movies. We don't really remember who was smoking cigarettes in the first Spider-Man, the Matrix or Bridget Jones.
But some people do. Those three movie titles were cited by BBC News as
some of those that had depictions of smoking that influenced teens to do
the same: "Adolescents who saw the most films depicting smoking were
73 percent more likely to have tried a cigarette than those exposed to the
least. And they were 50 percent more likely to be a current smoker." We're
still trying to remember who smoked in Spider-Man ... was it James Franco? [BBC News]

The 'plight of the American single person is cause for growing concern.' Single people havebeen well-documented research topic. And today, the New York Times finds
a vein that examines discrimination against single people during what
has been deemed "National Single and Unmarried Americans Week." The
gist, the newspaper explains, is that "some researchers are concerned
that the marriage equality movement is leaving single people behind."
Two example studies cited: a 2009 one called "I'm a Loser, I'm Not
Married, Let's Just All Look at Me" and a new book called Singlism:
What It Is, Why It Matters and How to Stop It. [The New York Times]